Full audio upgrade - bye bye Alpine, hello Kicker my old friend

Neomonk21 said:

I've been out of the audio game for over 20 years so I don't understand half of what you said. However, I can appreciate the time and effort you put into planning and implementing this upgrade, and it looks amazing! Great job!

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garzilla said:

My son got me back in. We just did a full setup in his (my old) 2007 jku. It REALLY made me want a system again.

Gonna do a little writeup on the PAC AmpPRO AP4-CH41 in a Gladiator. I figured out how to set the eq in the unit (via PC connection) and make the bass eq in the head unit more like a sub control. Not a replacement for an eq, but a VAST improvement over default settings. I couldn't really find anything out there on it other than it's there.

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garzilla said:

Stage 1 complete. Full replacement audio with stock 7" head unit. I used the PAC AmpPRO AP4-CH41 since I wanted to upgrade the speaker wiring (16 gauge ofc) too. Ran RCAs from the PAC to the amps. Used a kicker 360.4 and an 800.1. Ran zero gauge wire - tight fit under the door sills!
Upgraded the fronts to kicker KSS650 6.5" components and used the KSC690 6x9s in the soundbar. Used the MB Quart adapter kit. Went with the Fox Acoustics Fox Box single 10" and a kicker comp R 4 ohm wired at 2. So getting around 600w RMS. It hits WAY harder than the Alpine sub but probably going to replace with the Sundown ev4 2 ohm when it's available.

See post here

After a month of solid use, gonna make a couple tweaks. Looking for some more mid range oomph.

Stage 2 upcoming - redo amp rack to be about 3 inches wider, add d4s dsp68+ dsp, new power distribution, another 360.4 to have 8 speaker channels, and possibly add 3.5 mid in dash.

Once the dsp is in, I'm gonna use REW with a miniDSP umik to dial it all in (already versed in it from home theater use). Needs to cool down a little more in Texas before stage 2 starts.

Click to expand...

garzilla said:

Stage 1 complete. Full replacement audio with stock 7" head unit. I used the PAC AmpPRO AP4-CH41 since I wanted to upgrade the speaker wiring (16 gauge ofc) too. Ran RCAs from the PAC to the amps. Used a kicker 360.4 and an 800.1. Ran zero gauge wire - tight fit under the door sills!
Upgraded the fronts to kicker KSS650 6.5" components and used the KSC690 6x9s in the soundbar. Used the MB Quart adapter kit. Went with the Fox Acoustics Fox Box single 10" and a kicker comp R 4 ohm wired at 2. So getting around 600w RMS. It hits WAY harder than the Alpine sub but probably going to replace with the Sundown ev4 2 ohm when it's available.

See post here

After a month of solid use, gonna make a couple tweaks. Looking for some more mid range oomph.

Stage 2 upcoming - redo amp rack to be about 3 inches wider, add d4s dsp68+ dsp, new power distribution, another 360.4 to have 8 speaker channels, and possibly add 3.5 mid in dash.

Once the dsp is in, I'm gonna use REW with a miniDSP umik to dial it all in (already versed in it from home theater use). Needs to cool down a little more in Texas before stage 2 starts.

Click to expand...

Bacardiac said:

I did 2 10s under seat getting 600w pushed to them and Morel 6x9 in sound bar 75hz. Then I replaced the knee speakers 4in box with a larger 6in box and put 6in morel woofers in. It's a pain to replace them but they also hit at 75hz. Really helps that mid sound.

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Stan H said:

How's the batteries holding up

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BSW520! said:

Nice build. I did very similar last summer in the wife’s 2022 same amps, kicker speakers (dash, knee and sound bar. Same box and sundown 10”
Just finished a new setup in my 2025 Willys using the new pac ap4-ch42 kicker components and fox dual 10 box with sundown subs 360.4 and a1200.1 . For daily drivers I was really impressed with how they both turned out.

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